Disclaimer: Yu Yu Hakusho and it's canon are the creation and property of Yoshihiro Togashi. The events and characters of the series will be used within this FanFiction, perhaps with alterations to suit the story's needs. Canon from both the Manga and Anime may be used.
Original characters and events are the creation of and property of FierceFalcon.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any Resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locals is entirely coincidental.
Trigger Warnings: This chapter contains violence and minor implications of torture.
Rated M for language, violence, torture, self harm, gore, and the possibility for lemons and/or limes in the future (not guaranteed).
Chapter 1
Alone in the Dark
Darkness pushed in from all directions, surrounding and threatening to consume her. No matter which way she turned, she was greeted with emptiness. Not even the sound of her steps reached her ears as she walked. At least, she thought she was walking. It was easy enough to comprehend the gesture and assume her feet would obey as she turned and wondered aimlessly.
What was this? Where was this?
Typically, she had absolutely no problems seeing through darkness. This...was something absolutely different. There was not even a tiny fraction of light, it was as if the emptiness had sucked it all in to black out the world around her. She couldn't even see the nose in front of her own face. It was maddening. Not only could she not see, she couldn't hear anything, either.
What the hell was going on?
Her eyes fluttered open in a daze. Although it was dark, this was nothing in comparison to the emptiness she had been exposed to in the previous hours. She felt exhausted, as if every bit of her strength had simply been drained from her. She was thankful for the lack of bright lighting, she wasn't sure her eyes could take it. She wanted to hold her head, but as she attempted to move her hand she heard rattling. "Chains?" She thought, confused. She couldn't recall where she was, or how she'd gotten here.
Her attention turned up to her hands, noticing that they were stretched out over her head. There was a dim glow radiating from beneath the shackles pressing into her wrists, attached to a mere two or three links of chain to a stony surface. The glow was faint, barely capable of illuminating the flesh around her wrists. She tried to shift her legs, but the results proved to be the same as her arms.
Panic struck, causing her eyes to snap wide open. Her head whipped down in the direction of her feet, jerking her legs in a futile attempt to move them. The results remained the same. Just as were her wrists, her ankles were locked in tight shackles that glowed beneath the cold of the steel. Her breathing became erratic as she flexed her muscle, pulling against both pairs of shackles with all her might.
This should have been a simple task. Chains couldn't hold her!
Her jaw locked down on itself, grinding her teeth together as the metal cut deep into both her wrists and ankles as she struggled. Her lips pulled back into a snarl, her attention jerking up to her wrists. If she couldn't beat this with brute strength, fine. She tried to reach into herself to tap into her energy, as she had done countless times before. It was easy, one might even say it was effortless. Yet, for some reason, she felt as if she had no energy.
Panic turned to pure hysteria. Her fingers curling into her palms, cutting deep into the flesh. Her attention turned around the room while bubbles of blood oozed between her fingers. She couldn't recall being brought to this place at all, nor could she remember by whom. "Think. Think." She repeated over and over again in her head, even as she continued to examine the bare contents of her make-shift prison.
She rattled her brain, still struggling to free herself from her bindings. How had her day began? She couldn't remember anything out of the ordinary.
Her day hadn't started off as anything unusual. Routine patrol and reconnaissance. She had been given explicit orders regarding a particular stronghold that was causing her commanding officer to have a fit. So, as was to be expected, she was chosen for the mission.
Don't do anything reckless. Keep your head down and don't get caught. He told her.
As per usual, she had boasted her confidence. Laughing with a pure sense of unfiltered joy and arrogance. Me, get caught? Have you forgotten who you're talking to?
She had always been confident, and she never failed to call it 'one of her many charms'. She was considerably bold, daring, and (you guessed it) reckless with hardly any care or concern. Although, admittedly, she had gotten better over her years of service.
She laughed as she recalled the conversation, lifting her hand to muffle the sound and cut it short. Her eyes glittered with her amusement. "As if anyone could bring me down. Hah!" She said, throwing her head back with her short, mock burst of laughter. She even rolled her eyes.
This mission seemed far too easy for her tastes. Hours of sneaking around, with direct orders not to be so much as seen. How boring. Her entire life was dedicated to danger, endless thrills and high risks. Why should now be any different?
She'd accounted for many demons scattered around the outskirts of the stronghold. Most too insignificant to locate her suppressed power. Of course they couldn't! She was far too good at her job, even if this job was far below her typical standards.
She had a nagging feeling itching at the back of her mind. She couldn't put her finger on. She found a suitable place to pause for a moment, crouching low in a thicket of brush. Something felt wrong, in the purest sense of the word. It was as if ants had somehow managed to burrow beneath her skin and started to crawl around, causing goosebumps to blanket across her flesh. She took the moment to rub her hands along her arms. Something was terribly wrong.
She took another moment to slowly flex a small portion of her energy, reaching out into the surrounding area to examine it for the demons she had previously located.
She was surprised to find absolutely nothing. Not a trace, or even a glimmer. There was no way they could have moved off her radar so quickly. Her body tensed, quickly withdrawing her energy. Her muscles flexed as the woman curled back into a position not unlike a cobra poised and ready to strike. Her mind was entirely blank, focused on listening to the sounds around her for anything unnatural.
She had to give it to them. Not only could they hide from her spiritual awareness, but they could almost hide from her physical senses, too. If it hadn't been for an abrupt shift in the wind, they would have been successful in a surprise attack.
Thankfully, she could guarantee no one had a nose that was as sharp as hers. Her body reacted before her mind could catch up, disappearing in a blur of motion as if she had never been there. Only a moment later was she poised within a high tree, wild eyes staring down at the fools whom dared attack her. The spot where she had been only seconds ago had, so to say, spontaneously combusted. Of course, that was due to the amount of energy that had been put behind a punch. The culprit had no problem catching up to her, peeling his lips back in a most unnatural way as he stood to face her in full.
His lips split all the way back on his jaw, halting just before a pair of too-large and pointed ears. In combination with a set of teeth that were better fit for a shark, the sight was particularly sickening. She couldn't stop her face from twisting in a crude sense of disgust. He looked like a walking corpse, and smelled even worse.
She hardly had the time to process more of his physical attributes before he sprang forward, a blur of speed and far too much confidence for a power she considered to be minuscule in comparison to her own.
She would have laughed at him. Her body acted of it's own accord, muscles coiling and flexing as her legs pushed down with a violent burst of brute strength to launch her back in the direction of the ground. Her attacker left to strike nothing but the branch she had been perched on beforehand. Her hands reached out in front of her, landing flat upon the ground. In a show of simple grace, she had rolled back to her feet and spun. Poised once more as a ready-to-strike cobra.
"Are you simply stupid, or do you have a death wish?" She actually did laugh this time, pushing herself to her feet as her zombie-like assailant hopped back to the ground with her. She took the time to study her nails, an undeniable sign of disinterest.
That earned a snarl from him. The action incredibly over exaggerated by the unnatural feature of his lips.
Again, she laughed at him when he charged forward. This time however, she didn't simply just run away from the attack. Instead, she elegantly stepped out of danger's reach, if only just enough to avoid immediate contact.
It happened in a mere blur of color. One moment, she was being attacked. The next, a headless corpse lurched forward with the continued momentum of his running body before tumbling to the ground.
The missing head dangled in her hands, expression frozen in a rage. The poor fool hadn't even realized what had happened. She transfered the head into one bloody hand, swinging it back and forth like a pendulum in the direction of it's body. "You poor thing." She cooed in a too-sweet manner that was laced with false pity. Mocking a dead man, how classy.
With the flick of her wrist, the head was tossed onto it's body. With the hand not splattered with the blood of yet another victim, she flipped her hair over her shoulder with a humph.
"Can nothing give me a good challenge these days?" She asked herself, lifting her hands to shoulder level as she shrugged.
She'd had a smile on her lips when she turned on her toes. However, what she saw had been behind her made that smile falter. Her confusion was obvious, clearly written across her face in an unfiltered expression. She quickly regained her composure, brushing aside her confusion to replace it with a smug sense of satisfaction. "I didn't expect to see you here, of all places." She spoke as if the figure before her were some type of friend. Without a hint of suspicion or accusation.
"I could say the same for you." He'd said to her, offering up one of her favorite smiles.
She returned the smile without hesitation, crossing her arms over her chest as she cocked her hip.
"What are you doing here?" He continued on with the curious tip of his head.
She lifted her shoulder in a lazy shrug, dropping one of her arms to place upon her hip with the bloodied hand lifted to twirl in a circular motion. "Orders. Sir Piddle Pants is spooked, so I'm investigating for him."
There was a flash of something that passed quickly in his eyes, and his expression turned downward. She tipped her head curiously, completely oblivious to the reason behind his sudden dissatisfaction.
"What's wrong?" She asked after a time, taking the initiative since it didn't seem as though he was going to do so on his own.
His eyes fell shut, and he seemed...dismal. She was about to speak again, however his voice rang clear in the gloomy air. "I'm sorry you had to get wrapped up in this. It was my intention to keep you out of it."
Confusion returned in full force as she processed his words. She didn't even know what this was yet. "What do you mean?"
He shook his head at her, taking enough time to let tension settle into her body as she began to grow frustrated with his silence. Patience was never one of her strong points.
"I'm sorry." Was the only reply she got.
"Sorry for wh-" She hadn't even had time to finish her sentence before he was directly in front of her. Thanks to her familiarity with him, she had lowered her guard. She hadn't been expecting him to retaliate against her, he would never do that! But he had, in full force. She lost her breath all at once when his powerful fist connected with her solar plexus, knocking her off her feet and through more than just one or two trees. She hadn't even been able to catch her breath before she hit the ground, and he was standing over her when she curled into a fetal position.
Her mind hadn't caught up, and certainly wasn't able to comprehend why he had done such a thing. He knelt next to her, reaching a hand forth to tightly wrap around her throat. She hadn't even started breathing again, and he had already cut off her airway. The last thing she remember before that emptiness had consumed her was his voice, thick with darkness and something else that she couldn't place. "Sleep." He had told her. And then he had brought his fist down upon her temple, not sparing her even a twinge of sympathy.
That's right! He did this to her! He was the reason she was here! Where ever the hell here was. Her confusion was replaced with a sense of anger. Red winked into her vision as she thrashed against her bindings. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't even touch her energy, and it seemed as if her strength had been depleted as well.
"How could he!" She shouted, the sound of her voice echoing off the walls to accompany the fruitless rattling of chains. An animalistic snarl ripped itself free from her. Typically, it was catastrophic for her to experience this level of pure rage. If it hadn't have been him then she wouldn't be in this situation.
"Bastard!" She shouted, yanking and pulling against her shackles and causing them to cut deep into her flesh. The stinging pain that should have greeted her didn't register at all. Her adrenalin had kicked into overdrive as she thrashed. "How could you do this to me?!"
It was no use. It didn't matter what she did, her bindings didn't give. Not even an inch.
She didn't know how long she had struggled. Without even a window, she couldn't even use a natural source of light to anticipate the time of day. It had only felt like such a few short minutes, but she was exhausted. Completely drained of her physical strength. Her body ached, and her head felt as if it were about to burst. She must have been at it for hours. Her body sagged against the table, her head falling back against the cold stone with a rush of air.
She stared up at the ceiling as if she could cause it to burst into flame. Her face contorted in an expression fitting for the sheer sense of hatred she felt.
Now that her body was spent, it felt as if the time ticked by painfully slow. She was so tired...Tired? She didn't get tired! She drew in a slow, deep breath. Her face twisting in a show of disgust. She hadn't been tired in so long, she had practically forgotten when it felt like.
Silence overtook the small chamber once the echoing had died down. Not even the ominous drip-drip-drip of water from a faucet.
This didn't make sense. The more she thought about it in the passing hours, the more it fueled her anger. None of this made any fucking sense! Her strength wasn't coming back, to start things off. She couldn't tap into her energy, which wouldn't have bothered her half as much if she couldn't feel it being dangled just out of her reach. However, the thing that ate away at her the most was the fact all of this was because of him.
She hadn't even picked up on the presence that had slipped into the room with her. She had started struggling again, despite the fatigue that plagued her body.
"My, my, my. Aren't you just determined?" The voice rang out like bells, echoing off the walls in a painfully high pitched tone that was far too cheerful for the situation.
Her eyes snapped open, wide and wild and pointed directly at the source of the offense sound. Her new company was someone she didn't recognize, not even in the slightest.
Even with the lack of lighting, it was easy for her to make out the features of her newest form of company. Tiny, more so than she would be, and she was fairly small in comparison to those of average stature. Pale, almost chalky white, skin. Hair that was so dark a shade of red that it looked black without the light. The eyes were what were most noticeable, practically glowing like headlights with their neon yellow color with pupils fitting for a serpent.
Female, definitely female. If the voice hadn't given it away, the body certainly did.
She sneered at her new company. Even bound as she was, she still managed to look down her nose at this woman as if she were no more than a bug.
"Oh, don't give me that look. You're an honored guest here, you know!" The voice of the stranger laughed after she spoke.
She couldn't stop herself from peeling her lips back in a snarl. Baring her teeth like some cornered animal.
The laughing didn't stop for some time, and by then she had started growling.
"Come now, dear Sai. We're friends, aren't we?" The mysterious woman chimed.
The fact that this woman knew her name only succeeded in furthering her anger. If looked could kill. Was the only thing that Sai could think of. "Where the fuck am I?" She snapped.
The woman before her took on the expression of a pouting toddler. "I'm sorry, deary, I can't tell you that. The Master would be furious with me!"
Master? Who was the master? A deep, low growl rumbled in her chest. The sound was an odd one. It sounded like a mixture of canine with the addition of the chattering of a rattlesnake's tail.
"Oooo. Sca-a-ary!" The woman mocked her before laughing.
Sai was seriously beginning to hate the sound of joy. This woman should be afraid. Instead, she was being mocked!
"We'll have to do something to show you your place, here." The woman twittered, giggling like a little school girl.
If that didn't mean something, nothing would. Sai snorted in a most unlady like fashion. "Do your worst." As if she hadn't been in this situation before. If some twittering pixie thought she could the reaction she wanted? Sai was the one to bark out a burst of mock laughter.
Her unwelcomed company didn't seem to like that at all, considering her face had twisted into a scowl. "How dare you laugh at me!" She screeched at Sai, lunging forward with her claws outstretched.
Sai's laughter was cut short as pain rocketed through her side, and she sucked in a sharp breath and clenched her jaw. Lips pressed into a thin line as she curled her fingers into her palm and jerked against her chains. Naturally, her body wanted to retaliate against the assault. However, bound as she was, she could only lay there and endure this session of torture.
A/N: Greetings one and all! I must apologize for a rather uninformative first chapter. I was hoping to accomplish some sort of mysterious element to start us off with! Have no fear, though. As this story unravels, there will certainly be answers all around! As of this moment, I plan for this story to be an eventual Hiei x Sai pairing. It may not develop as quickly as some people may like, but considering personality traits between both characters, it can be nothing but gradual.
I'll attempt to update this story at least once a week. Some weeks may experience more chapter uploads, while potentially there may be a week where a chapter isn't uploaded at all. Any and all reviews are welcomed!
